Edwin Benson, age 75, is the sole remaining fluent speaker of the Mandan language. Recording his stories and linguistic insights is critical and a priority for the Mandan Tribe. Alyce Spotted Bear, Principal Investigator from Fort Berthold Community College, will use NSF support to receive training in recording techniques so that she can accomplish the first of these planned recordings. Field methods training will take place at the Fort Berthold Community College, a tribal college of the Three Affiliated Tribes, with the assistance of Dr. Sara Trechter (California State University, Chico) and Dr. Mauricio Mixco (University of Utah). Additionally, Spotted Bear will attend the Infield summer workshops at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This expertise will then be shared with tribal members to begin producing audio and video digital recordings of Edwin Benson in narration and in conversation with the remaining semi-fluent speakers; currently, there are no extensive recordings of Mandan narratives or conversational Mandan.
This project, with its overall documentation aspects, will contribute to the Mandan language's continuation as an historically significant spoken language. The Mandan Indians, communicating in their language, contributed to the success of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery by providing them with foodstuff and other necessities during the winter of 1804, and provided vital information related to the westward journey. The project's web database will make the evidence of this history accessible to all tribal entities, including the schools for instructional purposes, and to the linguistics community in general. This project's educational benefits to tribal members in linguistic fieldwork and language analysis are far-reaching in terms of their being able to share their acquired expertise with the community at-large.
